


Defiance

by MorningMoon



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Genre: Exams, F/M, Mission Fic, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7359586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorningMoon/pseuds/MorningMoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fic where Gaby needs to pass her Russian exam, unless she wants to be out of the next big mission. She tries studying by herself, but something happens. Yes, a giant Russian happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Defiance

**Author's Note:**

> As you may notice while you read this first chapter, I'm not a native speaker and I'm not a writing expert. Thank you for reading!

“I've finished,” Gaby said.

Raising the look from his magazine, the American nodded.

“Let me see,” he said reaching for the sheet with elegance and firmness.

She grabbed the bottle of rum, frowning, contemplative. She put back the bottle where it had been and went to the opposite side of the hotel room where the three of them were staying. Reaching for a bottle of vodka with her fingertips, she sat in the sofa next to Napoleon to fill her glass before placing her feet on the coffee table. The dim light of an evening in Vienna was getting through the large windows. She removed the wrinkles of her Armani dress, feeling relaxed. It had been weeks since she had started studying several hours per day in order to pass her Russian exam, without which she wouldn't be able to take part in the next mission. It wouldn't have been that hard if Waverly hadn't demanded advanced Russian and if there hadn't been so many missions lately.

“You passed,” Napoleon said, still holding the paper in his hands, frowning slightly. He had promised to correct and mark each of her essays, and she always surprised him, even at that point, when they had been working together for almost a year, “Did Peril teach you all of this grammar?

“You must be kidding, I passed?” She said surprised. “And no, he didn't teach me anything, I didn't need classes.”

He nodded, and gave her paper back, closing down the conversation. He kept on reading his magazine, which was sure to provide him with more than enough fashion arguments against Illya. Gaby, proud of herself, stood up, willing to store the essay inside a folder in her own bedroom, away from the blond's glare, who had previously tried to find her works, but had never succeeded. 

While she was opening the folder, the Russian giant opened the door of the bedroom, and caught Gaby by surprise, who let her sheet fall to the ground. She hated Illya’s annoying mania of entering everywhere without knocking the door, always startling her. But she guessed that was exactly why he was a good spy, he was able to frighten people without properly interrogating them.

“Target located. We leave in five minutes,” he said plainly, as if he was discussing the topic of a TV show. He started to turn back to talk to Solo, when something caught his eye. “Is that Cyrillic?”

“No, of course it isn't, it's Japanese, “she said, unable to think of any decent excuse. Anyway, it was too late, as he was already reading. She tried to take it away from him by jumping, but there was nothing she could do against his height, except for, maybe, wrestling. Gaining momentum...

“This essay is terrible quality,” he announced, with the same tone of voice he criticised her shopping preferences. All of her wrestling ideas faded away and she suddenly felt vulnerable. “You will never pass the exam, at least not with this poor level.”

“How dare you,” Gaby almost screamed, feeling how shyness prompted anger. She came near him, staring into his eyes ferociously and started clenching her fists. 

“It lacks grace in each of its paragraphs,” he said slowly, enjoying having control of her feelings for the first time since they had met.

Meanwhile, the tension increased within seconds, and Gaby measured her words, with the purpose of finding the most offensive to attack him with. Opening her mouth and lifting her heels, she got ready to throw her criticisms at him, when the door slammed open.

“Sorry to interrupt your little party, but it's time to go.”

 

___________________________

Gaby and Napoleon were in a bar of Vienne, tired after a whole day of tracking their mark, without a single update of her location. Apparently, the mark had decided to stay at her hotel, and everything they had been able to hear from the hidden mics had been continuous snores and yawnings. A bar had seemed a wonderful idea for both of them, but Illya had politely declined their invitation, as usually. Half an hour later, Napoleon had already flirted with all of the waitresses and had attempted to seduce two costumers. Even for a man like him, the number of targeted women didn't seem right to Gaby. She tried to initiate a conversation several times, until she desisted from doing so and asked what was going on.

“Well, Gabs-how can I say this so you don't lose your temper -Waverly called,” Napoleon said, his face actually showing concern. She stared, expectant. “He wants Peril to teach you during this whole month, to make sure you're doing the best you can. And he added that it's not a suggestion it is a mission that you both will have to reconcile with the rest of the work."

Her gaze was indescribable, it was so cold that it would have given goose bumps to anybody, but not Solo, as he was used to that kind of reactions when she was told to do something she particularly disliked. Her jaw muscles were tight, and if he didn't know better, he would have sworn she was grinding her teeth. She was feeling the same fury Kuryakin regularly felt, with the only difference that she was better at controlling it. With the intention of loosen her up a little and avoid further arguments; he rushed to add a convincing point.

“Unless you start working this out, you will be out of the next mission, you know.”

The point apparently had the opposite effect that he had wanted, as she stood up suddenly from the chair of the bar where they both were, and once she was finally out the content of their glasses was still shaking dangerously. All Napoleon could see from his seat was a blur of a blue Gucci dress while she made haste to the hotel.

Not even the feeling of the cold Viennese breeze helped her to calm down, and when she got to the door of their room, her keys almost fell to the ground due to her promptness. Finally opening the door, she saw the Russian playing chess-with himself, always-, sitting in the two-seater sofa. He lifted his head, apparently unaltered by the rage of her eyes, and smiled a little, as if he were pleased, practically revealing malice.

“I must assume you heard the news, yes?” he asked with a presumptuous tone, similar to the one he used when he gave her the black ring in the first mission.

“Yes,” Gaby said, sharply. “But, sorry to say that I doubt you'll ever be capable of teaching me even the basis of Russian.” And then she smiled with derision at her frown, before heading to her writing desk.

Half an hour later Gaby was in her blue pyjamas, desperate to find the suitable words for the conclusion of her essay, she really wanted to be able to impress the reader, but at that point, she was clueless. The last two lines of her work had taken her at least ten minutes, if she got stuck like that in the exam she would have zero opportunities to go to the next mission in Russia. Thereupon the blond agent entered the room with two different dictionaries in his hands, and then he slowly placed the objects on the writing desk. Perhaps he only wanted to help her, perhaps all he wanted to propose a truce between them. Maybe he could forgive him, just for a while.

“We will start right now, “he announced.” We will do ten exercises of reading comprehension, and then you will write four essays, which I will correct. Unless you prefer failing the exam.”

All the calmness she had managed to keep had suddenly evaporated, and the tension was rising dramatically. If he wanted to fight, she would, no one told the little German what to do.

“I. Don't. Need. Your. Help.”

“Clearly you do. Your exam will be despised by the examiners.”

“Do you even know for how long have I been studying Russian? What do you expect, when I've been studying for just six months, to pass with honors?”She was outraged.

“Mmm, no. Knowing you have the level of a six-year-old child, I do not expect that.”

Gaby considered leaving him standing there and going to the hotel bar to drink something strong enough to help her fall sleep immediately and forget what the Russian had said about her writing skills. She would wake up the next day with a terrible headache but without a single bruise. And she was wearing But she had never been like that, she was a fighter, with all the consequences it involved. So she stood up from the chair she was sitting on, causing it to fall, and shouted Arschloch, asshole, and got prepared to throw herself with all her strength against him. Illya, who predicted what her intentions were, secured his position and tensed all the muscles of his body. He hadn't intended to get to that point, and he almost regretted saying what he had said, but this time he wasn't going lo let her win the fight, she didn't have the element of surprise that had allowed the little woman to defeat him in Rome. Just then, a familiar voice resonated in the room, Waverly. Gaby stopped in her tracks and the shoulders of the Russian became relaxed.

“How are the classes going so far?” The boss asked with a casual tone, pretending he didn't know what was going on, although the two agents were aware that he had come because he had expected that reaction and didn't want to pay another exorbitant bill.

“We had just started,” Illya said, briefly looking at her to make sure she wasn't going to telll the truth, shedding an unflattering light on him.

“Yes,”Gaby supported with a cold smile and a piercing smile towards her boss, adding sarcastically, “You really couldn't have thought of someone better to teach me”

“In that case, agents, I'll leave you two to keep working,” he said ignoring the sarcasm of the woman's voice. “Oh, and tonight the mission will be finalized by Solo, so you have extra time to study.”

Turning away from Illya, after she had looked him dead in the eye, Gaby headed for the bottle of rum which was on the bedside table when an unwavering hand stopped her. She looked up at him, demanding an explanation. 

“No drinking during study hours,” he announced lifting the chair which was still on the ground.

Gaby knew all she could do was to resign herself to the mission, not even Napoleon was on her side. She promised herself that Waverly would pay the price for having made such a terrible decision. Yes, he would pay the price for it, maybe not that day, but he would, eventually. Illya cleared his throat, pointing at the chair where she finally sat down, whining. The next three weeks were going to be a real nightmare.


	2. Conductance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaby has some questions to solve, 10% involves her Russian exam, and the other 90% involves Illya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a native speaker, sorry if there are too many mistakes. Thanks for reading!

Two weeks had passed, with easy missions and never-ending classes. Even during the missions, Illya talked to her exclusively in Russian, giving her complicated instructions which she struggled to understand in order not to blow her cover, and he refuse to obey her instructions unless they were given in perfect Russian. Illya had been called back to Russia for a short period of time, and although she should have been relieved that she was going to be able to relax after weeks of nervousness, she had started to get used to it. Gaby accompanied him to the hotel hall. They had time for saying goodbye, but none of them seemed interested in doing so. Two, three minutes passed by.

“So,-”Illya started, wanting to let her know how much she had improved, how well she was going to do the exam. But the horn of a taxi was sounded outside, it was time for him to go, even if he didn't want to. Nevertheless, he tried to continue, until he was interrupted by the German.

“They're waiting for you,”she said smiling, against her will, and walked away, feeling remorseful and empty, as if he had not only left behind a comrade but something else. 

She got to UNCLE's headquarters fifteen minutes before agreed, so she decided to wait before entering Waverly's dispatch . Just as she got to the door she stopped to listen to the two men's conversation.

“Yes, I strongly believe she will pass the exam smoothly, Solo,”She heard her boss say, while she started smiling, appreciating the gesture and ready to open the door.”After all she has been taught by the best of KGB,”he joked, and Gaby raised her eyebrows.

“I still don't understand how could you came up with the idea of assigning such a mission to him, I had to run away from their fights after every class, literally,”Napoleon commented, and then added,” Can't think of a reason that made him accept”

“Accept, you say? It was me who had to accept, despite my reticence,”answered Waverly, and Gaby withdrew her hand from the doorknob, suddenly interested in what her boss had to say.

She guessed Napoleon would have by now the same surprised look she had, as she heard Waverly sigh and get ready to explain further.

“Two weeks ago agent Kuryakin showed up in my dispatch during one of your mission breaks. He didn't take the trouble of closing the door, he stood up at the threshold looking at me and said “I want to teach Gabriella Russian”, and I warned him that she would probably refuse,”he stopped to clear his throat.”I insisted that it was a bad idea and I could hire a teacher just for her, but do you know what did he do? He closed the door behind him, took off his hat and placed it on his chest and held it there, looking almost human. Then, he said “I saved her life in our first mission, give me the opportunity to save me in this one, please””

The two men felt silent, and Gaby feared that she might have been caught, but she soon realised that the American must have been shocked and he was probably wondering what to say in order not to look too surprised. He liked it that way, he always had to play it cool, as if someone was always watching him, wishing to judge him.

“Save him?” Napoleon asked jokingly. “I doubt there's something out there which can help him, nobody knows what goes through that girl's mind.”

Was she really like that? She buried all of her deepest feelings after her father had left, and since then she hadn't really needed them. In fact, if she hadn't hidden her feelings she wouldn't have been able to be the good agent she was. There had been several men in her life, but she had never been actually attached to them, and she doubted she could be attached to someone at this point. 

The two men changed the topic of their conversation multiple times before she finally decided entering the dispatch, ready to follow the instructions for the mission. This time the two agents should pretend to be a wealthy couple in order to charm a drug dealer during the opera.

__________________________

The night before the exam all he could think about was calling her. He wanted to tell her that she was going to do it well, that she was prepared, that he was proud of how much she had been working. He dialled the number of her hotel room, and waited patiently, with no result. He took a deep breath, telling himself that there had to be a coherent explanation, she could be having dinner with someone, maybe Solo. Not feeling convinced, he took a cold shower, as he was use to when disturbing thoughts haunted him. Half an hour later, he called again, with the very same result. If the American had neglected her and she was in danger...His fingers started to tremble. If she was hurt in any way... He tried to stop shaking, if he couldn't do it, within a few minutes all the furniture of his apartment was going to be destroyed. He dialled the number and to his surprise, a voice he knew answered.

“Hello?” Gaby said, an he remained silent. “Who's calling,please?” She asked, suspicious.

“Good luck, Gaby” He said, automatically regretting it, wondering if it had sounded as stupid as he guessed. Not waiting for an answer, he hung up.

Stupid or not, the short message left Gaby uneasy, and unable to sleep until she poured herself two glasses of the best rum she could find in the mini-bar.

____________________

The morning of the exam came, she got prepared and managed to arrive earlier than she should have. Gaby thought about breathing slowly to relax, but soon desisted, she was a strong German woman and could cope with everything she wanted to. Twenty minutes before the end of the exam, she handed the papers over and left, completely satisfied. She went straight to the hotel and disconnected the phone of the room. She had problems to solve, but her pending rest was something she was not willing to skip, not even for the Russian agent. If he had waited so long, he could wait a little longer for her.

________________

The results should have arrived at least a week ago,but she hadn't received a letter, nor a call. Maybe those who ha failed were not supposed to receive written notice, and then she would spend the next months taking part in minor missions, away from her partners. She had been awake for an hour now, but she stayed in bed, too concerned about what the future held for her. Perhaps this time she would have to say goodbye to the blond man, and she would never see him again. Just then, the phone rang, and she got up to answer it.

“Miss Teller, we had an appointment today, and we agreed it was thirty minutes ago. The only one of the three of you who is already here is Solo.” Waverly said.

When she heard the word three, she jumped and hung up. No none had informed her that he would be back so soon, and it gave her the possibility of getting the answers he needed from him and solving the questions she had made to herself.

When she got to U.N.C.L.E headquarters, Waverly's secretary informed Gaby that the two men were waiting in the break room. She felt uneasy, and she tried her best not to show it. The last thing she needed was Napoleon remarking her nervousness. After a while, Waverly told her that he had been so urgent because she had been called by the Russian examiners, and the call had been put on hold. 

Soon after Gaby entered her boss' dispatch, Illya slowly opened the break room's door, and looked at the two men who were sitting in the sofa, with a question that was not needed to say out loud, Where's Gaby? But they didn't need to answer, as the woman appeared in the opposite side of the room, and started walking haltingly towards him.

“Illya, I got my marks. Nine out of ten, I passed.” She announced smiling, ignoring her other partner and her boss, as she kept walking.

And then, the Russian's smile became visible, it started shining with something that looked like pride, maybe. But not the kind of pride he felt for Russia, or for the KGB, it was for Gaby. His eyes were bluer than ever, and they looked at her as if there was nothing else in the room, or in the world. That was all she needed to run towards him, and seeing her running was all he needed to extend his arms towards her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her smoothly so they were at the same height.

“I always knew you could do it, little chop shop girl” He said, while she grabbed him by his collar and came closer, until her eyes showed the doubts and the questions that tormented her. But they had gotten there after endless interruptions, and the Russian was not willing to lose another opportunity, so he closed the space between their lips. It was a strange feeling for both of them, the tension and adrenaline finally liberated made them laugh. Illya made her spin, between kisses and laughs.  
Meanwhile, the men that were sitting on the sofa watched the image wide-eyed, when the oldest one took fifty dollars from his wallet and reluctantly gave them to the young man, paying him for the lost the bet.

“For a former special agent, you're not having a very special day, are you?”


End file.
